Survivors
by BeneaththeWords
Summary: "We're shitty people, Joel." He remembered her words, how true they were, how he couldn't deny them. What was even right in this world, anymore, though? He certainly wasn't the good guy, but was he the bad one? All he knew, is that he survived.


**AN: Hey everyone, just here with a short oneshot. Everything about this game is incredible; the characters, the plot, the music. Everything. It had me thinking a lot of what would be right in that type of world, and who the bad guys truly are, so I decided to write this. Let me know what you think and endure and survive.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Last of Us or any of it's characters.**

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The day was a sunny one, Spring finally showing itself, a wonderful change to the harsh Winter that he was injured for the better part of. That left Ellie to fend for them both; scavenging for food, risking becoming ill herself just to keep him warm as possible, barely surviving an attack from those damned cannibals. Joel couldn't understand how someone could do that to a person, to a _child_. Then again, he wasn't quite the good guy himself. What could he say; he survived.

"Hey, Joel?" Ellie called. They had just searched an old supermarket, now walking among the sidewalk littered with paper and over grown weeds from the cracks in the pavement.

"Yeah, Kiddo?"

"Could we take a break, please?" Her voice half pleading, half whining.

"Well," Joel hesitated, he was pretty tired himself, and they could use a quick break. He knew if they kept at it constantly, they'd run themselves dry. "Alright, but not for very long."

"Yessss," Ellie shouted, not expecting him to relent so easily.

"Hey, just keep it down. Don't want any hunters to hear us."

"You got it, Chief." Ellie walked over to a deteriorated bench, sitting back against its broken back and pulled out one of her comic books. The bench looked ready to collapse just under her weight, so Joel decided to just lean against the building across from her. They could both have each other's backs then, that is if she bothered to look up from her book now and again.

He crossed his arms, looking up at the trees and the sky. How ironic that the world could look so beautiful like this, even if it did go to shit. Maybe it was the way the sun was shining, or the way the new leaves were playing hide and seek with the sun's rays, letting the light seep through and hit various places on the pavement as a breeze made them dance. Maybe he was being nostalgic, a word Ellie liked to use every time she found something from his era that wasn't completely destroyed. Either way, the destructed world seemed peaceful, almost serene. Little things were better than nothing.

His thoughts drifted back to David and his men, how he found Ellie, whacking the machete into his skull over and over. He was so relieved to find her alive and David dead, so relieved. Yet he was glad he got the chance to pull her back, he had never seen her so angry, so violent. Yet she was just a terrified child who almost got chopped to pieces alive. She was a survivor, too.

Joel didn't think he was the bad guy, but he sure knew he wasn't the good guy, either. He killed, he stole, but so did everyone else. That was a bullshitty excuse, and he knew it. Just because others did it, doesn't make it right. Tess had said they were shitty people, and it was true. Weren't they all in this unfortunate world. He wouldn't pursue the innocent, would he? Each time they ran into trouble, it was the others who pursued first. He remembered the mangled bodies, the screams of other victims trying to escape. He only killed when necessary.

He was survivor, always had been. Now, now he was so much more. He was a leader, a guardian, a protector. He had Ellie now, and he had a duty to accomplish. Maybe someday, the world will be on its way to a better path. Maybe someday, they'd all be able to be a family. Him, Ellie, Tommy, and Maria. Maybe even Bill if that son of a bitch was still alive.

What would Sarah think of all that he'd done. _Sarah_, oh how he missed her. Would she be upset, frightened at what'd he become? Would she see him as a monster, or a savior? He had Ellie now, though. She was so different from Sarah, but so much like her at the same time. He was lucky. He got a second chance. He wouldn't let it go to waste. He wouldn't screw this up. Not anymore.

"About ready to get going, Ellie?" Joel asked, grunting as he pushed himself off of the wall's support.

"Yeah, alright." Ellie reluctantly put her book back into her backpack and started walking further up the street with him.

"How about when this is all over, we have a good, old-fashioned game of chess." Joel suggested, knowing it'd give her something to look forward to. Even if they were little things, she needed to have something to work towards. He wanted to keep her spirit alive.

"But I don't know how to play." Ellie replied.

"I'll teach you, kiddo. You'll probably be better than I am."

"You're on!" Ellie smiled brightly. It was the little things.

Joel knew that he and Ellie weren't the good guys. They didn't always do what was right, no matter how hard they tried. Joel was selfish a lot of the times, and this world had hardened him. Ellie, though, Ellie softened him slowly. Her innocence, her youth, her spirit took him back to his roots. Back to how Sarah had known him.

They weren't the good guys. They weren't the bad guys. They were survivors.


End file.
